By Zephyria Kenneth couldn’t tell the truth to the question of how much he had heard. He felt that if he said that he had heard most of the contents, that sharp gaze would be more painfully fixed on him.
However, even without answering, Leonardo could already guess from Kenneth’s hesitating appearance that the other person had heard quite a lot.
He coldly stared at Kenneth with increasingly fierce eyes. On the other hand, Alec didn’t care much about such things, and his eyes shone as he looked at Kenneth as if he had discovered a new experimental subject. When the two people’s contrasting gazes met, Kenneth was even more at a loss.
“Ha….”
After staring for a long time, Leonardo sighed deeply and turned around to sweep his hair up. He bit his lip tightly, his head complicated. He had been too careless.
‘Yeah, there’s no way he’s just in the 1st Battalion for nothing.’
Come to think of it, when Alec Siles first brought up the story of making a deal, Kenneth suddenly came up to him, asking when he would leave while packing his things, and he suddenly thought that it was to mediate because he had heard all the conversations.
Then does he know about Nero’s Ring and Etaid too? Does he have to make a contract one more time to shut that mouth now? But even if it’s the scholar, is it okay to tie that guy to this dangerous contract?
It was a problem to send him back to the ranks as he was, and it was a problem to take him with him. He didn’t know how much that guy knew, and he didn’t know what to do in the future.
‘Nero and that scholar bastard, I was too hasty because I only thought about Agrizendro. I should have considered all possibilities and moved more carefully….’
Leonardo Blaine felt a sudden wave of fatigue and rubbed his face roughly. Then, he stared blankly at the dense forest, gripping his hair as if he wanted to tear it out.
Seeing him looking so anxious, Kenneth hurriedly approached Leonardo. When Kenneth came into view, Leonardo lowered his hand from his hair, furrowing his brow deeply as he looked at him.
Kenneth hesitated at his expression, but soon mustered his courage and took a step closer, cautiously opening his mouth.
“I, I really won’t say anything if we go back. I’ll just say I got lost.”
Leonardo simply stared at him without answering. His silence made Kenneth even more anxious, and he quickly added.
“Um… I don’t understand everything, but you’re being threatened by the scholar, right? Right? That’s why you have somewhere to go together, and you’re planning to return to the ranks as soon as you’re done, right? You’re not trying to run away, are you?”
Hearing Kenneth’s words, trying his best to convey that he understood, Alec Siles, who was listening from the side, suddenly opened his mouth in an aggrieved manner.
“Why is my name coming up there? And I’m the one who’s been threatened more—”
“I know Blaine is a good person. I know there’s some unavoidable reason why you can’t go back. I… I don’t know if I’ll be helpful, but I’ll try not to be a burden.”
Kenneth ignored Alec’s words and once again spoke his true feelings to Leonardo. Thanks to this, Alec, who had become a mere bystander, was still smiling faintly, but expressed his displeasure, saying, “Huh… no one’s even listening to me anymore.”
Trembling hands reached out and tightly grasped Leonardo’s hand. The clear, tearful eyes looked quite earnest.
“So please don’t leave me behind. Please take me with you. And let’s go back together when it’s all over.”
“……”
Leonardo’s eyelashes fluttered. Kenneth’s choked voice made it clear that those words were sincere.
A wind blew through the dense forest. The cool sound of leaves and foliage rustling filled the air, shaking Leonardo’s hair as it passed. His wary gaze and thoughts were slightly disturbed by it.
His eyes, red from being rubbed raw, and his clumsy but sincere words shook his troubled heart. It couldn’t be an act, so how could he say such things? A guy he hadn’t even known for long.
‘Please don’t leave me behind.’
This was a time when he should be making decisions as coldly as possible for his own safety, which was uncertain, but damn it, those words and eyes like an abandoned puppy, and the hand that grabbed his without permission, were once again blocking his decision.
Besides, the words he was using to hold him back just happened to be words he himself had once said.
Kenneth looked extremely nervous, as if he was afraid of hearing a refusal. His earnest gaze clung to everything, begging not to be let go. It would be a lie to say that his heart wasn’t softening at the sight.
Leonardo lowered his gaze and sighed softly. Then, with a calmer look, he raised his head and asked Kenneth.
“Why would you go that far?”
“…Huh?”
Kenneth asked back, as if he didn’t understand the question. Leonardo then asked him again.
“If you get caught going with me, it’s a violation of the rules. Moreover, prolonged desertion and harboring and aiding a fugitive are clear grounds for disciplinary action, so why do you still want to go with me? You don’t really understand why I’m doing this, do you?”
Even if he was a rookie, he should know what would happen if he helped someone who was being treated almost like a criminal here, someone who might become a real criminal if he didn’t join them now.
He was curious as to why he was so eager to be taken along, to go together, even though he didn’t know how he would move in the future, or what the reason was. However, Kenneth’s answer, which he heard soon after, was so simple that it made Leonardo’s complicated thoughts seem ridiculous.
“You saved me….”
He blinked his wet eyes and answered readily, without hesitation. Leonardo made a dumbfounded expression when he heard him.
But that was only for a moment, and soon he let out a hollow laugh. It was because Kenneth had said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
It was a simple answer that made him wonder if he was lacking in thought or didn’t understand, but thanks to it, all his worries about whether he could trust this guy disappeared.
The hollow laugh soon turned into a gentle smile. Leonardo softened his tense demeanor and said.
“That’s right. I saved you twice.”
Kenneth, realizing that his atmosphere had changed, listed the reasons why Leonardo should take him with him in order to accompany him.
“Yes, yes, that’s right. You saved me, so I wanted to help you too. I have a good sense of smell and hearing…. And I’m good at lying and making excuses too. Really. You’ll be surprised when you see!”
It was admirable, but the last part wasn’t exactly positive, and Leonardo’s face subtly contorted as he listened.
“Hey, anyone would think I’m making you do something really bad.”
“Ah, no, that’s not it….”
Kenneth stammered with a flustered expression. But even that appearance was so like him that Leonardo couldn’t help but smile.
His pretty eyes slightly folded and curved, and Kenneth’s face, which had been watching him carefully, cautiously relaxed. Soon, he too wore a faint smile on his lips, following Leonardo. In the meantime, the scholar’s sneer that it was nice to see passed by, but Kenneth didn’t pay much attention to it.
Leonardo cleared his throat, took his hand out of Kenneth’s grasp, and slightly removed the smile from his face. Then, looking into his eyes, he asked in a serious voice.
“You said you’d be good to me, right?”
Kenneth nodded vigorously at that.
“Yes.”
When he answered immediately with sparkling eyes, Leonardo quietly stared into his clear pupils. Nero was no longer visible in those eyes. Instead, Kenneth himself was visible.
Leonardo slowly raised his hand and stroked his wet eyes. Kenneth was startled by the sudden warm touch that gently wiped away his tears, but he didn’t avoid the hand. Rather, his heart was pounding, and his face was not only happy but also moved.
Leonardo lowered his hand and quietly looked at him. After sighing softly and bowing his head silently, he placed his hand on his shoulder as if he had decided on his fate, and met his gaze again. Then, he said quietly.
“Keep that promise.”